I'm just a kid
by Dark-Angel302
Summary: Ryou Bakura and Seto Kaiba are two teenagers who(you have to admit)are mature for their age, and don't have any REAL friends. But what if they descovered each other, and brought out the side that, let's just say, made them act 'more their age'. SetoxRyou
1. I'm just a kid

Hi everyone! (If there is anyone reading my fics) I've been anomalously reviewing for a long time on , and now I'm finally putting up a story!

Anyway, intros-

I'm DarkAngel302, but you can call me Angel, or DA, I don't really care.

I have a yami, and 3 muses! My yami is YDA, or Meiko, that doesn't matter either. Then there are my wonderful muses: Ginta, Miwa, and Yuu!

Meiko: So, your done now?

Angel: Yep!

Malik: Okay, is she always this preppy?

Ginta: No, just now.

Miwa: Usually she's, well . . . How would you describe her?

Yuu: Psychotic?

Meiko: That would be Angel. -.-

Malik: We could just get on with the story . . .

Angel: Alright! Okay, I will be adding Yaoi in later chapters, just not now.

Meiko: This is an angst, right?

Angel: For the first few chapters. Anyway, I want to start, turn on the radio, or my CD player or something.

Malik: Why?

Ginta: That's how she works.

Miwa: Finding a song that will relate to her story,

Yuu: Then putting it on repeat until she finishes her chapter.

Meiko: It gets annoying after a while. -.-

Angel: 0.0 Uh, thanks guys. Anyway, to all who got my pen-name from Freai, tell her she rocks:

FREAI I LOVE YOU! YOU ROCK! AND I HOPE YOU'RE NOT TELLING THESE PEOPLE LIES, LIKE I'M A GOOD WRITER OR SOMETHING!?!

Meiko: Because that's not true.

Angel: Aren't you my yami? You are supposed to be nice to me.

Meiko: Not nessicerly, take a look at Bakura.

Bakura: (Sharpening dagger and thinking of ways to torture Ryou) Hm . . . What? (Sees every starting at him)

Ginta: -.- Nothing.

Angel: Okay, enough talking, on to the story!

* * *

Ryou - Ryou Bakura 

Bakura- Yami Bakura (Tomb robber, spirit of the ring, exc. Exc. . .)

Malik - Malik Ishtar

Marik - Yami Malik

Yugi - Yugi Motou

Yami - Yami Yugi

P.S. This is for the whole fic, this doesn't mean that they will all be in this chapter.

* * *

>yami to hikari> 

/Hikari to yami/

"Speaking"

_thinking to themselves_

**_Song lyrics_**

(Author notes)

* * *

DarkAngel302 doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh, any of its characters, or the Song 'I'm just a kid,' that's owned by Simple Plan. 

P.S. For all that is mis-spelled, BLAME MY STUPID COMPUTER! I can't fix them, T.T

* * *

_**I'm Just a Kid**_

_Chapter 1_

Early morning sunshine poured through the window, giving the room a dream-like haze. Ryou Bakura finally opened his eyes after giving up on going back to sleep, silently reminding himself why he hated horror movies so much, they won't let him sleep at night. It was Sunday, joy, no school, but it was early. **1** Messy silver-white bangs fell over his large chocolate brown eyes as he turned over to groggily check the clock.

7:03 a.m.

**_I woke up it was seven_**

**_I waited till eleven_**

**_Just to find out that no one would call_**

He lay there, his mind in sort of a daze. What was it he was supposed to do today? He stared unblinkingly at the clock, not really reading what it said, trying to remember. After a while he gave up and snapped out of the daze, he blinked, and the clock read 11:21. Realization smacked him like a ton of bricks. _Joey was supposed to tell Yugi to call me before 10! What if they already called?_

The white-haired teen scrambled out of bed, tripping himself over his backpack on the way out his door. Practically falling down the stairs and through the empty house he lived in, he made it to the kitchen forgetting he was still only in his boxers. Only to find the answering machine blank.

Ryou felt his breath catch in his throat, they hadn't called, so he hadn't missed them. That was good . . . and bad. Ryou sighed, letting his bangs hid his eyes as he looked at the floor, leaning against the kitchen counter. Joey didn't tell Yugi at all, no one was calling him.

**_I think I got a lot of friends, but I don't hear from them_**

Ryou ended up wasting the day away, trying desperately to find something to distract him; to trick his mind into thinking that he was just doing something else instead of waiting by the phone for someone to call him. Yeah, that worked, lets put it in perspective, he worked on a rubix cube for three and a half hours. Fun . . .

He lounged around in torn, faded jeans and a plain white T-shirt; switching often between watching TV, surfing the internet, reading, and playing with the rubix cube. He didn't eat anything at all that day, not really caring, he had other things on his mind.

**_What's another night alone?_**

**_When your spending everyday on your own_**

**_And here it goes_**

It seemed to him that all of his weekends were like this, never leaving the house. He had friends! Or, at least he thought he did. Ryou often questioned himself if the four people he hung around with, helped out, and thought he was friends with really . . . didn't want him around? They let him hang around them, but never really paid attention, he was the one who always went over to them; but what would happen if he just . . . stopped?

Would they care?

**_I'm just a kid_**

**_And life is a nightmare_**

**_I'm just a kid_**

**_I know that's not fair_**

Life back in England had been slightly different, for the worse. He had had no friends whatsoever, everyone thought he was some crazy psychopathic freak who could somehow make you go into a coma until the end of time. Here in Japan, at least he had people he called friends, but they never really seem that way. Of course he also had his little fan club, and who could forget the school bullies that his so called 'friends' never helped him from.

So, every day he was ignored, beaten, and then beaten again when he got home . . . by Bakura.

**_Nobody cares 'cuz I'm alone and the world is having more fun than me_**

**_Tonight_**

It seemed to Ryou that he never went out and did anything anymore, but then again what would he do? It was quite depressing for him to think that the rest of the world was probably having the best time in the world, while he sat in his living room feeling sorry for himself.

Maybe he should just go out by himself. But the last time he tried that he finally came to his senses after being very drunk and high, and was about have sex with some hot girl two or three years older than him. But also found out he had a tattoo on his back by his left shoulder blade, a permanent one.

I guess going out by himself would be a bad idea.

**_And maybe when the night is dead I'll craw into my bed_**

**_Staring at these four walls again_**

After wasting a whole day in his living room, Ryou finally went to bed around 2 AM, and by this point he was very depressed to say in the least. Ryou was just glad he was too chicken to cut himself (blood made him squeamish anyway) He sat down on his bed, staring at his blank room, and was wondering once again what he was doing.

Ryou had lived by himself ever since his mom died, any other teen would have thrown a wild party or something by now. But Ryou seemed to be more responsible than any other teen, that's probably why his father trusts him. His father was always away on trips, he barley came home at all. Ryou sighed.

What was wrong with him?

**_I'll try to think about the last time I had a good time_**

When was the last time he actually had fun? Ryou thought about this while walking to school the next day. He guessed it would have to be back in Duelist Kingdom, he felt like he belonged somewhere, and his yami wasn't there to mess things up either. For those few days, he had a normal life, or as normal as it could get in a Duel Monsters tournament run by a complete mad-man.

As Ryou reached Domino High, he saw Yugi Tea Joey and Tristan standing by one of the many large Sakura Trees. Ryou mildly wondered if he just kept walking, they wouldn't notice him, or care for that matter.

He bet they wouldn't notice him until lunch, or later, if he stayed quiet and out of the way.

Well, they did.

**_Everybody's got somewhere to go_**

**_And they're going to leave me here on my own_**

By lunch, Ryou was about to go ballistic, he needed to know if they missed him at all. Maybe they thought he was just sick or something. He walked over to the picnic table they sat at, not having a lunch at all for himself.

"Hey guys," Ryou says in his usual soft, sweet British accent. Yugi smiled up at him, of course, he smiles at everyone.

"Hey Ryou! Where have you been all morning?"

"Oh, just . . . around," Ryou said sheepishly.

"You tired or something?" Joey asked, giving him a weird look.

"Yeah, I guess so." _I didn't really get any sleep last night. Maybe I was just over reacting, Joey probably just forgot or something. That sounds like something Joey would do.  
_  
"So, you still up for this afternoon Yuge?" Joey asked, leaving Ryou standing there.

"You bet!"

_Then again, maybe not._ Ryou sighed, and turned to leave. The four didn't even notice him, they were caught up in some conversation of their own.

**_And here it goes_**

_Maybe I should just transfer back to England, or to somewhere else. Maybe to Egypt? Then I could see Malik anytime he wanted, he was a better friend to me anyway.  
_  
**_I'm just a kid_**

**_And life is a nightmare_**

**_I'm just a kid_**

**_I know that's not fair_**

**_Nobody cares 'cuz I'm alone and the world is having more fun than me_**

**_Tonight_**

Ryou sat down underneath a different Sakura Tree, watching the other students chat with their friends as the walked past him. No one noticed him at all. Serenity Wheeler and Duke Devlin walked by, and they both waved at him before leaving to where ever they were going, but that was about it.

**_What the hell is wrong with me_**

_Why do I have to be so weird,_ he thought to himself while playing with some blades of grass. _I'm just not normal. Why can't I find someone who understood me for what he am? Why did the gods have to make everything have to go wrong for me, what have I done? _

Why can't I live a normal life?

**_Don't fit in with anybody_**

**_How did this happen to me?_**

Nobody seemed to have the same interests as Ryou, he liked many different things that don't go together at all. He likes to read constantly, and it's just about every fiction genera you can think of, but he especially likes Shakespeare, Horror stories, and action manga. He draws constantly as well, and it can be of anything, as long as the thing will stay still long enough. He also reads and writes fanfiction on the internet. Not to mention he rocks at video games and watches anime.

(I basically just described myself, but I don't really care.)

But what happened to him?

During his earlier years of his life, before he got the ring, he was always a very social person, everyone trusted him, and he had made friends with everyone in his Elementary school, even the teachers. But something happened, and he just stopped.

Ryou betted he still had that social side to him, he just had to find someone to help him bring it out, but no one gave him the slightest glance.

**_Wide awake and I'm bored and I can't fall asleep_**

Ryou was so troubled by this, and bored out of his mind, he actually fell asleep in History, which really wasn't like him. Ryou escaped the pit hole of hell, also called school, and walked strayly into the park. He stayed there till the sun started to set, still thinking about his troubles.

But this seemed to be a very bad thing to be out so long, Bakura was waiting for him.

**_And every night is the worst night ever_**

Ryou silently crept through his front door, it was dark outside, as well as in the house. This either meant that Bakura wasn't home, or he wanted some fun and was going to not only beat the shit out of Ryou, but scare him to death as well.

There were no sounds, so Bakura must be out. Ryou let out a sigh of relief, and tried to turn on a light, it worked. Ryou turned around to meet his yami face to face. Ryou yelped in surprise, and backed quickly into the wall. Bakura smiled evilly, a very drunken look in his eyes, and proceeded on his hikari.

**_I'm just a kid_**

Screams.

Screams of pain muffled by thick walls could be heard outside of the house. Neighbors heard, but turned out there lights, ignoring the sounds.

**_I'm just a kid_**

Lights flashed, but really it was just one light, being covered repeatedly by a person's body. Through the window, horrible shadows of someone what looked like was torturing another person.

And the screams continued.

**_I'm just a kid_**

Until it was just whimpering . . .

Then all went still for a moment . . .

Before a bloody, mangled body crashed through the window. The glass surrounded Ryou on the ground; cutting, and imbedding themselves into his already beaten, cut and bruised skin. Ryou scrambled to his feet and tried to get as far away from his house as humanly possible.

Then it started to rain. (Typical)

**_I'm just a kid_**

**_And life is a nightmare_**

**_I'm just a kid_**

**_I know that's not fair_**

He finally slowed down, limping alone the sidewalk, tears streaming down his face, and blood dripping to the sidewalk as he walked. Leaving a trail of red liquid behind him. His 'friends' didn't even realize he was abused, even when he came to school either limping, bruised, or his hair sprayed over a certain side of his face to cover a black eye. Or did they notice, and just not care?

**_Nobody cares 'cuz I'm alone and the world is_**

**_Nobody wants to be alone in the world_**

As Ryou limped along the empty streets, he recognized a shop to his left, he had only been there two or three times before. He looked through the large glass window to see a few familiar faces.

**_I'm just a kid_**

**_And life is a nightmare_**

**_I'm just a kid_**

**_I know that's not fair_**

Joey seemed to be doing an impression of some kind, while the others laughed, chatted, and just hung out.

_Like normal kids._

Ryou stood outside, the rain beating down on his head and shoulders, one bloodied hand pressed against the glass window. Why wasn't he with them, his friends, why did he have to be so . . .

Was there even a word for it?

**_Nobody cares 'cuz I'm alone and the world is_**

**_Nobody wants to be alone in the world_**

A few cars passed by him as Ryou stood there, watching the four for quite a while, but they never noticed the desperate teen.

Suddenly there was a car horn behind him, Ryou jerked his head around to see a limo, with Mokuba hanging out an open door.

"Hey Ryou! Do you need a ride?"

**_Nobody cares 'cuz I'm alone and the world is having more fun than me_**

**_Tonight_**

"Sure," he said slowly. Where would he tell Mokuba to take him? Who knows? 'Cause Ryou was defiantly not going home, and there was no where else for him. But he entered the limo anyway, leaving a bloody hand print on the glass outside the Kame Game Shop.

**_I'm all alone, tonight_**

Seto Kaiba sat on the far end of the limo, looking down upon Ryou like he always does. Ryou just smiled politely, but a very small and faint smile, and closed the limo door.

**_Nobody cares, tonight_**

Mokuba sat next to Ryou, and noticed, from his view, that the back of Ryou's head was red. Shocked, he sat silently, noticing other things wrong with Ryou:

He was covered in blood

He had a black eye

His right leg was bent in , what had to be, a very uncomfortable position

And there was glass embedded in parts of his skin.

Mokuba looked over to his brother, who didn't seem to notice. So Mokuba had to say something, that would help persuade his older brother to help the injured white-haired teen.

"Um, Ryou? Are you okay?"

"Yes Mokuba. Why do you ask?"

**_'Cuz I'm just a kid, tonight_**

"Because you're bleeding on the seats."

* * *

Angel: Mokuba just had to point out the obvious. 

Meiko: Kaiba didn't seem to notice.

Ginta: Just like those other guys.

Angel: Well, for my little author points:

1 Japan has school Monday-Saturday, I believe. So Sunday would be a weekend for them.

Yuu: Correct her if she is wrong.

Angel: Well, end of Chapter 1. To all who will ask, it will be a RyouxSeto Yaoi, not a RyouxMokuba.

Miwa: Please review!


	2. Someone rescue me

**Disclaimers:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

--

_**I'm just a kid**_

_Chapter 2_

Kaiba's gaze flicked over to Ryou momentarily, seeing the metallic red substance soaking into the black leather seats. It wasn't until that moment that Kaiba noticed how beat up the white-haired teen was. His left eye was bruised black and blood covered the entire back of his head and dripping from his now red and white hair. Ryou's face turned slightly pink, but only because he was so pale you could tell, there wasn't much blood left to rise to his face to redden the blush caused by embarrassment.

"I-I am?" Ryou asked, shifting a little, but Kaiba could see he was moving as close as he possibly could to the door. "I . . . I-I'm so sorry, I didn't realize I -"

"It's alright," Ryou heard the deep smooth voice from the opposite corner of the limo say. Kaiba was looking directly at him, but the cold stare that had been on his face when Ryou got into the car had vanished. "We have paramedics at the mansion, we'll just take you there so you can clean up." Mokuba nodded at his older brother's statement, then a sudden smile crossed his face.

"You can stay the night too!"

Ryou was surprised by all of the attention that was being given to him, and how kind the Kaiba brothers were being to him. "I-I don't mean to intrude or anything," he stuttered.

"Nonsense! We never have people over," Mokuba exclaimed, gaining a look from his brother that was mostly shock but also a tinge of embarrassment, basically it said 'MOKUBA! I can't believe you just said that!' Ryou smiled at the 10-year-old's naïve behavior.

"Alright, that is if you really want me to," Ryou replied softly, mostly directing the question at Kaiba. Who sighed, sibling embarrassment doesn't just come and go, it builds up instead.

"It's no trouble at all."

Not long after, they arrived at Kaiba Mansion, the limo pulling through the large brass gates. It was still raining outside. When the car stopped both Kaiba and Mokuba got out the other side, Ryou opened his own door, but it seemed as soon as his foot touched the ground his head was hit with a sudden wave of dizziness.

He stood up out of the car and then his whole world started to spin, pain lashing through every bit of him and his vision blurred. He blinked furiously, holding his head with one hand, the other trying to steady himself on the door. He was so distracted and dizzy from the pain that it wasn't a few seconds later he found himself falling backwards, balance lost.

Something caught him, he couldn't even look up to see what it was. It might have been the ground, or the car, or maybe some_one_ caught him. He'd never know, he fell unconscious a moment later.

---

Seto Kaiba felt the boy go limp in his arms, the blood-loss made him pass out. Shifting the boy up on his feet, so his head rested on Kaiba's shoulder, he realized that someone would have to carry the British boy inside. Kaiba looked around for Mokuba, but he had rushed inside. _To get a room ready, I hope_, he thought to himself.

That someone carrying the boy was going to be him.

Putting his free arm under his legs, Kaiba picked the boy up bridal-style, surprised by how light he was. The unconscious boy shivered in his arms, soft white bangs plastered to his forehead. He snuggled into Kaiba's chest, desperate for warmth.

What had happened to him?

Kaiba wondered about this as he made his way to the front door, and suddenly stopped right outside of it. Mokuba had closed the door.

How was he supposed to get inside?

---

The door was opened by a very nervous maid. "I'm sorry Mr. Kaiba," she apologized hastily, almost stuttering. Kaiba's glare was piercing her through and through, he kind-of looked like a cat that got stuck in the rain, water dripping from his hair and coat. Kaiba stepped into the mansion, and that's when the nurse saw the white-haired boy. Shivering and wet in Kaiba's arms.

Wait. Why was Kaiba carrying him?

Kaiba made his way to the elevator, there was no way he was going to walk up the stairs _while_ carrying . . . what's his name??? I think his name's Bakura or something. . . that's what his friends call him.

The nurse followed him and both were in the elevator. Kaiba was just glaring at her, almost like he was waiting for something. It was about a minute before she started to get nervous from his never moving glare, set on her.

"Well?" he said, still glaring at her. "Are we going up or not?" She hadn't pressed the button to start the elevator yet, and he was holding the white-haired boy. She gulped nervously and pressed a large button with a number '3' on it. Kaiba gave an annoyed sigh as the elevator doors finally shut.

Kaiba looked back down at Bakura, who was starting to bleed more heavily now that he was out of the rain, like he had been in the limo. He looked tired, worn. He no longer shivered, in fact he wasn't doing anything; he was completely limp. As soon as the doors opened, Kaiba started down the hallway at a fast pace.

Mokuba popped out of a room, indicating which one was for Bakura, Kaiba laid him down on the bed inside the room. The boy didn't move, at all. "Is he even breathing?" came Mokuba's voice.

No.

He wasn't.

Kaiba turned around to his little brother, "Get the paramedics in here!" Mokuba nodded and ran out of the room, his footsteps fading down the hall. When Kaiba turned back to Bakura, a vivid red color was spreading through the sheets, mostly around his head. "HURRY MOKUBA!"

--

Chocolate-brown eyes blinked open, and confusion swept over the white-haired teen. _That's not my ceiling. _He would know, his was covered with posters and pictures, to give him something to look at when he was bed-ridden. This ceiling was white, blank. He tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness hit him like a ton of bricks. The white-haired boy fell back on to the bed, waiting for his vision to clear.

He hurt everywhere, mostly his head though, and he couldn't see through his left eye. Turning his head, Ryou looked around the room. He was in a bed, he could tell. Across the room was a pair of large double windows, and outside the window was a tree, it looked like. Two chairs were next to his bed, now empty, and a table at the foot of the bed had a lot of bandaging all over it. _Where am I?_ He tried to remember what happened.

_After school, I went to the park . . . I think, and then I went home. Bakura beat me, and I was walking down the street . . ._ everything came back to him. _oh, no; I collapsed outside of the limo_. He groaned, covering his eyes with his arm, causing him to press down on his left eye. He winced and uncovered his eyes. _Kami-sama I must be a mess, I can't believe I was bleeding in Kaiba's limo!_ He groaned, and turned over, in the bed away from the window, and gasped when he saw what was on the other side of his bed.

There was the door, in the far left corner; and an arm chair next to another set of double windows, and in the arm chair sat Mokuba, in Kaiba's lap; both asleep. He felt his breath catch in his throat, glad he didn't start talking out loud a few moments ago. Mokuba snuggled into his older brother's chest, seemingly cold. Ryou checked his watch that was still on his wrist, 3:46 a.m.

Slowly, as carefully as he could, Ryou sat up, trying to keep the dizziness to a minimum. Once he was in an upright position, he swung his feet over the side of the bed, his now socked feet touching the carpeted floor. As slowly as he could, he stood up; his vision seemed to waver for a minute, but it passed. Kaiba shifted a little in his sleep, holding on to Mokuba tighter, who snuggled into him again. Ryou smiled, it was a cute picture; this must be the side that Mokuba always sees of his older brother, no wonder he adores him.

Ryou sighed, why did they stay in here with him? To make sure he was alright? _It's more than my friends would have done._ Walking carefully, he took the comforter off of the bed he had previously been in, and laid it over the two Kaiba brothers. _They've done too much for me._ Trying to ignore his threatening dizziness if he moved too fast or spun around, Ryou started to move about the room.

There was a mirror hanging outside the door; he winced at his reflection. He had bandages wrapped around his head, and also over his left eye, with a cotton swap. Checking himself over, Ryou found lots of other bandages were glass use to be, and some others along with a cold-heat pad on his leg. _I must have stretched something,_ he hadn't felt it.

Finding his shoes and jacket, he entered the washroom to clean up a little before leaving. He could probably make it home before dawn. Taking off the bandages around his head, he washed his face. All of the wounds on his head had stopped bleeding, but his left eye still looked like he colored over it with a sharpie. At least he could see out of it.

Looking around the hallway, he quietly walked over to the guest room when a thought hit him. _Which way is out? _He smacked his forehead, _Nice going_. He decided he would find it sooner or later, and looked in on the Kaiba brother's one last time.

Only to find both of them gone.

"I put Mokuba in his bed," came a voice from behind him. Ryou nearly jumped out of his skin; Kaiba didn't need to bother being quiet like Ryou had. Turning around fast, he stumbled from the dizziness. _Note to self: DON'T SPIN AROUND FAST!_ "You look . . . slightly better."

"Hehe, uh . . thanks?" Ryou laughed nervously.

"You really shouldn't be up this early."

"You are."

"Yes, but I don't have sharpie markings over my left eye." Ryou laughed a little, remembering his last thought, when he suddenly choked on it. _Kaiba just made a joke_. Finally looking Kaiba in the eye, Ryou felt himself freeze; his usually cold-ice blue eyes were down to a determined set, but for a second Ryou thought he saw a spark, the kind that Joey has 24/7. It wasn't until a moment later that he realized Kaiba had been talking.

"What?"

"You zone out a lot, don't you?" Kaiba said, giving the smallest hints of a smile. Ryou gave him one of his warm, sheepish smiles.

"I guess."

"I asked if your name was Bakura?" Ryou tensed at the name.

"Uh, I prefer Ryou; but Yugi-tachi calls me that."

"Oh." There was a silence between them, Kaiba stared at his feet for a minute before looking back to Ryou; only to find the white-haired teen looking at him, a dazed sort of look. "You okay?" He seemed to snap out of whatever train of thought he had and blushed when he realized what he had been doing. Looking at the floor he mumbled an apology. Kaiba gave even more hints to a smile, shaking his head.

He was funny; a little shy, and quiet, but still . . . he was okay. "You want something to eat?" Kaiba finally asked. Ryou nodded a little, not speaking, and followed Kaiba towards the stairs.

_**TBC...**_

--

Kami-sama – "Oh God" or something similar

Yugi-tachi – Yugi and the others

--

YEAH! I FINALLY HAVE A PLOT! D ( though the chapter sucked horribly...)

Meiko: finally... -.-

Angel: I'm sorry to all of those who were waiting for me to update for so long, (especially ragdollsally13 who is the best RyouxSeto writer ever!!!) And I'm sorry to all of my reviewers:

**_Crystal19 _**– It was sad, but it will be happier soon!! I promise D

**_Ragdollsally13_** – Seto is dreamy :sighs: miserable . . . Ryou . . . Just like you? :blink. Blink: I hope not, I thought I was the only one with such misery.... Oh well, hope you like the chapter! This was mostly for you ya know! XD (sorry it sucked so much)

**_Viva rose_** – yeah, just a little. XD Hope you like the chapter...

**_Kasurie Diethel_** – terrific? :blink.blink.:: no... really? ::blushes:: I didn't think I was that good a writer. Thankx for the compliments, you rock! D Hope you like the chapter...

**_Amarin Rose_** – Here's the update!! XD

**_Evee1_** – no, the chibi eyes! Okay, I updated... NO MORE CHIBI EYES! TOO HARD TO RESIST!

**_Relinquished_** – wow, 11?? I'm gonna have to read them! XD I'm a big SetoxRyou fan too! Hope you like the chapter...

**_Rikki-the-fox_** – okay, thank you for the really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really inspiring review...

**_Fani90 _**– I'm afraid I made a little OOC, I'll have to try and change that...

**_KuramaandHiei4ever_** – that would be true, I know... but he wouldn't go as far as to kill him, and yur reviews are so inspiring! D They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside ::huggle:: ... blink... blink.... I really need to get off the sugar...

**_Dark Magician Girl/ Haikaru_** – oh, 0.0 I'll try adding more thoughts next chapter....

Angel: PLEASE REVIEW!!! I'LL TRY TO UPDATE FASTER NEXT TIME I PROMISE!!!!

Meiko: You shouldn't make promises you can't keep hikari

Angel: but I can ::pouts::

Meiko: ::rolls eyes:: sure....

Angel: ignore my yami please, and REVIEW!!!!

OOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	3. Crystal Tears

**_Disclaimer:_** Dark-Angel302 doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

--

**_I'm Just a Kid_**

_Chapter 3_

"Wow," Ryou was in awe at how advance and huge the kitchen was. Of course, it was Kaiba's, but it sure beat the hell out of his small kitchen back at his house. But it actually looked more . . . normal than what Ryou had expected. Sure it was big, but Ryou had been expecting it to be completely made out of chrome, with every sort of technology you could imagine crammed into it. The kitchen he stood in now sure had a lot of advanced technology in it, but the cabinets were made with wood, and the counter tops were a smooth blue granite. The floors were white tiled and an island with two barstools were on one side opposite of the stove and one of the two ovens below it.

"Not what you were expecting, huh?" Ryou blinked out of his sudden daze to see Kaiba right next to him. The tall, blue-eyed brunette had an amused sort of look on his face, but not one of mockery, he actually looked like his face would break into a smile at any moment. Ryou smiled sheepishly.

"Less technology and machinery than expected, yes," Ryou smiled widely as he heard Kaiba kind-of chuckle at that comment.

"Yeah, I guess most people would get that impression." Kaiba walked into the kitchen, searching through cabinets. "What would you like, we have just about anything you'd ever want."

"I'd imagine," Ryou said, laughing a little. Looking down at his watch, it read 6:07 a.m. "Mokuba should be waking up sooner or later, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't even think he was asleep when I put him in his bed," Kaiba said. "If so, then just barely. You want breakfast? I'm sure Mokuba will want some when he gets up."

"Sure," the white-haired teen said, sitting down on one of the bar stools, across from where Kaiba was standing. Suddenly realizing how casual this was coming to him, Ryou looked down at the blue granite counter top, tracing his fingers along an invisible pattern. Why _did_ this seem so natural?

"What do you want? I can fix pancakes or something." Ryou looked up at the older teen, a bewildered look on his face.

"You can cook?" Luckily Kaiba wasn't looking up at him, he was searching for a skillet.

"Yeah, we use to have a chief, but he retired about three months ago, I never got around to hiring a new one," Kaiba kept talking as he took out ingredients and such from the many cabinets while Ryou just kept staring at him. "Mokuba says he thinks I cook better anyway."

Ryou watched as Kaiba gathered everything and started in on the pancake batter. "You make it all yourself?"

"It doesn't taste right if I use the mix." Ryou was amazed that Kaiba was acting so . . . _normal_. And he was _cooking_! **_From scratch!_** Flour, eggs, sugar, the works. Mixing it all swiftly and smoothly like he did this every morning. "Besides, this is how my mom use to make it when I was little." Ryou felt a pain in his chest as Kaiba said that, he said it so casually, like she was just upstairs doing something else at the moment, or that he was the one that made breakfast for her now. But she was gone, Ryou knew Kaiba and Mokuba were orphans, he himself felt like one everyday.

"Yeah, only my dad was the one making breakfast instead of my mom," Ryou suddenly heard himself say. Ryou's breath caught in his throat, what had possessed him to even mention that! Ryou suddenly found his hands very interesting to look at.

"Was?" Ryou looked up only to see Kaiba still mixing the batter, not looking up at him either.

"Well, he's never home any more," Rou said softly, looking back down at his hands. Somehow, he felt he should say more. 'Kaiba won't tell anyone', he thought to himself. 'He really isn't one for gossip.' Taking a deep breath he continued, and found that speaking of this was easier than he thought. "He's usually in Egypt or one of his other archeological jobs, for months at a time too. When he does come home, it's either for a day or two before his next dig or Christmas. Sometimes my Birthday, but he always seems to be busy."

Kaiba had been listening closely, nodding a little as the white-haired teen talked. And suddenly a billion questions rushed through his head, Ryou Bakura's life seemed very interesting all of a sudden. "What about your mom."

"She's dead." Kaiba felt his stomach lurch, and sudden guilt filled it.

"I'm sorry-"

"It's okay," Ryou interrupted, leaning his head to the side with a dazed look in his eyes; of remembrance. "I was only five, but I can still remember her though." He closed his eyes for a minute, remembering a woman with a slight tan complexion and pure white hair that fell down to her waist in smooth waves. With bright green eyes that, sadly, he didn't inherit. She had the most wonderful laugh, and a smooth silky voice; he could remember, she use to sing him to sleep every night.

Soft, yet quick, footsteps coming down the hallway brought him out of his train of thought. Ryou looked over is shoulder just as Mokuba bounded through the door. "ONIISAN!" The elder teen winced at his younger brother's high-pitched voice. You'd think he'd be use to it by now, but I guess it is kind-of a shock so early in the morning.

"Ohayou Mokuba," Ryou said, mentally giggling at Kaiba's reactions. Moukba sat down next to the white-haired teen, smiling up at him.

"Ohayou Ryou-kun! Why are you up so early? Couldn't you sleep? Why'd you take your bandages off?" Ryou laughed mentally, forgetting how fast Mokuba changes subjects. 

"Ano..."

"Are you feeling better?" Mokuba said before Ryou could even answer.

"Okagesamade, arigatou," Ryou laughed, he couldn't believe the 11-year-old was hyper this early in the day. How did Kaiba stay sane? Ryou didn't have to deal with it every day, so he just laughed at the child's naïve-ess; while Kaiba sighed as he continued making breakfast.

"Mokuba, why don't you go get ready for school," Kaiba suggested. "Breakfast should be done by the time you get back down here." Mokuba groaned, and headed back upstairs reluctantly. "One of these days," Kaiba started, but ended up just sighing deeply, cutting himself off. Ryou giggled a little, but suddenly choked on it.

Kaiba looked up to see him staring wide-eyed, twitching a little. "Ryou, what's wrong."

"S-S-School!" Kaiba raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"I-I-I can't go to school like this!" he stuttered. Ryou's hand went up to his black eye, still twitching a little. 'I have cuts everywhere, and my leg is still pretty bad. Oh god . . . I have P.E today. Oh, Kami-sama, WHY DO YOU HATE ME!' he mentally yelled. All was silent for a moment, almost intensifying, making Ryou's nerves worse.

"Care to tell me what happened?" Kaiba was looking down, flipping the pancakes, a dazed look in his eyes.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Ryou said softly, feeling his eyes start to sting. "You don't believe in the magic of the Millennium Items."

Kaiba faltered. 'Magic? What's he talking about? I-It's not _real_ . . .' Yet somehow, he doubted his own thoughts. His proof was sitting in front of him, Ryou had been hurt really badly, he wouldn't lie about something like this. Kaiba slowly took the pancakes off the skillet. There had to be another explanation. Kaiba looked up at the white-haired teen and froze, crystal-clear tears brimmed Ryou's chocolate brown eyes, watching as his finger traced a cut on his hand back and forth. Deep thought drowning all his senses.

"Ryou?" One lone tear fell down his face, he bowed his head a little so his white bangs covered his eyes, but more tears fell down his cheek. Kaiba slowly walked around the island, watching Ryou, who wouldn't look up from the floor. Even when Kaiba was standing right in front of him he didn't look up. "Ryou?" Kaiba's voice was lowered, soft almost. When Ryou started to shake in silent sobs, Kaiba couldn't resist anymore.

He could feel Ryou catch his breath as Kaiba tilted his head up with a careful hand, gentle fingers lifting up his chin. Crystal-tears still streamed down the white-haired teen's face. He was closer than Ryou had thought, barley inches away. Kaiba had his head tilted to the side, sympathy for the white-haired boy in his eyes. "What happened?"

Ryou was startled; he had never seen him like this, Kaiba was being so caring, comforting, it was like . . . he really wanted to help him. 'No one ever wants to help me.' "You won't believe me." His own words brought more tears to his eyes, falling freely down his face, he couldn't stop them now. But Ryou suddenly felt his gaze locked on Kaiba's eyes, why couldn't he look away? The brunette slowly wiped away the tears from his unbruised eye, Ryou breathed in deeply, closing his eyes, Kaiba's touch was so soft, and more comforting than anything he could imagine right now. Yet doubt still hung in the back of his mind. "You won't believe . . ."

"Try me," Ryou could feel Kaiba's breath on his face he was so close, sending shivers down his spine. 'Why does he care?' Ryou questioned. ' No one cared before, why him?' His own thoughts sounding in his head, Ryou felt more tears building up behind his eyes.

'Why does he care?'

He cried. Started sobbing right into Kaiba's chest. No one cared before, and yet here he was, in Kaiba's house, in Kaiba's arms. Indeed, the first reaction Kaiba had was to comfort the white-haired teen. Softly insuring him in comforting words, slowly rubbing his back, just as he did with Mokuba years ago.

"It's okay," Kaiba repeated the phrase often, telling him he would be alright. Gently brushing white bangs out of blurred chocolate brown eyes, Ryou continued to sob, shaking his head while muttering to himself.

"I can't go, I can't go-" Kaiba hugged him closer, trying to get him to settle down. 'He really should stay out of school today,' the brunette thought to himself. After a while Ryou's sobs stopped, he whimpered slightly, tears starting to dry. He felt safe, he felt like he could stay right where he was forever. Kaiba still held him close, eyes closed, leaving his own mind and senses in a numb trance. He couldn't think, everything seemed so right, so perfect. He didn't move, he just enjoyed the blissful moment of having someone in his arms. Till he opened his eyes, and reality snapped back to him.

He drew back a little, almost hesitantly, looking Ryou in the eye. "You okay now?" The white-haired teen nodded, sniffing a little.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't worry about it," Kaiba interrupted. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine." Suddenly, a spark lit up in Kaiba's eyes. "I've got a idea, how about you stay home from school, here." Ryou looked up at him, confused. "And I'll stay with you." Ryou's eyes widened.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly- you, or me, shouldn't miss school-we'll have so much work to do and-" he was silenced as a finger was placed to his lips.

"We'll be fine, I was going to miss school today anyway because of a meeting, but I canceled it yesterday. And you-" Kaiba was cut short as quick foot-steps were yet again coming down the hall. Ryou suddenly blushed as he realized what position he and Kaiba were in; Kaiba still had his finger on Ryou's lips, and the two of them were way too close for anyone _not_ to think-

"Oniisan? Is breakfast-" Mokuba stopped as he saw both Ryou and his older brother break away quickly, Ryou's face was flushed red, and even Kaiba's face had a slight tinge of pink. "-ready. . ." Ryou rubbed his right arm nervously, while Kaiba had his hands shoved in his pockets; both were staring at the ground.

"Uh, yeah. Right over there," Kaiba nodded towards a stack of pancakes that he had taken off the skillet before Ryou's break-down. "Ano... I better go get changed . . . and. . ." He didn't even finish his statement before he quickly walked down the hall and up the stairs. Ryou watched him leave. 'That was. . . different.' He had never seen Kaiba act like that; neither caring, nor as flustered as he just was.

"You want some?" Ryou blinked out of his daze, looking over at Mokuba who had already started eating.

"Hai." The two ate in silence for a moment, but it was kind-of . . . normal. Almost dazed, like any school morning should be. And Kaiba's cooking was _really_ good.

"Do you get it now?" Ryou blinked at the sudden question, and one that made no sense.

"Get what?"

Mokuba dragged his last bite of pancake around his plate. "Why I tell everyone Seto's not as bad as they think he is." Ryou blinked again. Kaiba did act completely different than what Ryou had seen during school, or when he was dueling.

"Is he normally like this?" Mokuba nodded.

"He just tries to act tough, but he will change really fast sometimes. Like if I have a bad dream, or I start crying; he tries to make me feel better." Ryou had a glazed over look as Mokuba spoke. The raven-haired boy smiled to himself, "He takes care of me."

Ryou smiled as well. "You love your brother a lot, don't you?"

Mokuba nodded, grinning widely. "He's my best friend, he looks out for me." Mokuba's face dropped a little, "But he works really hard. He wants both of us to live happy, but sometimes he's too busy with Kaiba Corp. to do anything fun."

"Sometimes?" Ryou asked, smiling.

"Yeah." Mokuba said, not catching Ryou's sarcasm. "Some nights, when he doesn't have meetings, we just . . .you know, hang out. Watch movies, play video games, just normal stuff." Mokuba smiled to himself again as he spoke.

"You two have a lot of fun then."

Mokuba nodded enthusiastically. "Yep. During the winter we play outside in the snow a lot, and we have a lake house that we go to in the summer." Ryou smiled, 'Kaiba's more normal than anyone gives him credit for. I always wondered how he could act like a machine 24/7, it seemed like he never sleeps. He gets everything done for his company AND for school, he keeps straight A's, and he manages to find time for Mokuba. Plus he puts up with all of those rumors, gossip, and the press too. He can stand to have to the whole world hate him, just as long as his brother is happy. It's like his only goal in life. Keeping Mokuba happy.' Ryou smiled sheepishly, tilting his head to side while he stayed dazed out in his own thoughts. 'He's really admirable.'

Suddenly, Seto Kaiba's life became very interesting.

**_TBC..._**

--

_**Japanese words**_

Oniisan – big brother 

Ohayou – Good morning

Okagesamade Arigatou – I'm fine thank you

Kami-sama – equivalent to Oh God

Ano – Um....

---

Angel: Yeah! Fluffy chapter! XD

Meiko: -.- Whatever...

Angel: Hey! I told you I'd update faster! Didn't I Didn't I Didn't I Didn't I –

Meiko: YES! YOU DID! NOW **_SHUT UP ALREADY!!!_**

Angel: ::Backs away:: Sorry, just making a point.

Meiko: ::Sulking and grumbling incoherent phrases::

Angel: Thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers!

**_ragdollsally13_** – Favorites of all time? ::blushes madly:: I-It's not that good. There are a lot better writers out there than me (::cough::Shori Musei::cough::Lady Yami Bakura::cough::Pork Steak the Grande::cough::you::cough::) And once again, this chapter is mostly for you, best SetoxRyou writer ever (no, I'm not exaggerating, and don't you dare say I am. Tis true!) Hope you liked the chapter!

**_kurayami ryou-sama_** - Kaiba is too tall. ::shooting kid-ofevil glares over at Kaiba:: I don't think _anyone's_ ever going to get over it. And the long review was nice! XD And you know how long it took me to update the second chapter? Well, I thought about quitting because I felt so sorry for Ryou as well. But I didn't, too many nice (and threatening) reviews. XD Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

**_Kyuu_** – Wow. o.O You were right.

**_Relinquished_** – hmm.... Mini-dancing-Seto-chibis huh? And yes, Seto and Ryou are perfect for each other! (would add little happy face but won't let me) o.O you know what, that happened to me too. Only I got out of school for three days my teachers were so convinced I'd kill myself. But then I founded anime club and I've been happy ever since!

**_Wildwolf_** - ::poke:: I hope your on now. Yes, kinda sad, kinda happy, bad Yami no Bakura ::throws computer mouse at Bakura's head:: oh, and PLEASE DON'T SEND THE MINIONS ANYMORE! I NEED MY SLEEP, TESTING STARTS NEXT WEEK!!! ::shivering:: no more chibi eyes, no more chibi eyes . . .

**_hershey-kiss_** – yes sad, so was this one. ::sweatdrop:: Hope you liked the chapter.

**_Isaac's Girlfriend_** – 0.0 ooooooh, shiney weapons.

Meiko: -.- feel free to maul her

Angel: OW! ::just cut self on weaponry:: Shiney, but THAT HURT!!! ::starts crying::

Meiko: oh god, help me. . .

**_Krista123_** – Keeping it up! XD Hope you like the chapter!

**_fani90_** – uh... right now? Well, the chapter 4 won't be till . . . at least a week and a half 'cause I'm going to England with my dad for a week, my flight's on Sunday night . . . so . . . yeah, a week and a half for chapter 4.

**_Elle-Fate2x1-2_** – Well, let your imagination run wild, you will _never_ guess what happens next! Hope you liked the chapter!

**_Amarin Rose_** – too true, we need more SetoxRyou fics. . . .

Yes, well, as I told fani90, I'm going to England with my dad, so I'll be gone for a while. My next update should be in at least a week and a half.

Sorry for the shortness and–

Meiko: – it sucked, right?

Angel: Wow, you're catching on.

Meiko: You're suggesting you have a routine?

Angel: uh . . . no . . .uh . . . I always do my best on my stories! But my writing sucks!

Meiko: -.- how did you think of that?

Angel: ::blink:: I thought you told me my job wasn't to think, it was to write. . .

Meiko: o.O . . .

**_I TAUGHT HER SOMETHING!!!!_**

::halleluiah chorus::

Angel: 0.0 Well, please review. And no flames please.

Meiko: ::halleluiah chorus::

Angel: 0.0

Meiko: ::halleluiah chorus::

Angel: . . .

Meiko: ::halleluiah chorus::

Angel: . . .

Meiko: ::halleluiah chorus::

Everyone: WILL YOU **_SHUT UP!!!!_**


	4. Who knows what could happen

A Christmas present from me to you!

* * *

**_Disclaimers:_** Darkangel302 doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or the songs 'Who Knows' by Avril Lavigne or 'The Ring' or 'Ringu'…

* * *

_**I'm Just a Kid**_

_Chapter 4_

Ryou pulled the bright red T-shirt over his head only to find that the sleeves went down past his elbows, and the shirt down to mid-thigh. He sighed heavily, Kaiba's clothes were way too big for him.

Mokuba had left for school about an hour ago, leaving Ryou to watch the big-screen TV alone since Kaiba hadn't come downstairs since their little incident in the kitchen. But when he did come down about 9:30 he had a pair of black cargo pants and a red T-shirt with the Kaiba Corp. logo on the front in his hands, asking Ryou if he wanted to change out of his clothes from yesterday. _**Unfortunately, they don't fit.**_ He sighed once again, finding out the cargo pants were more baggy than they should be.

Actually, as Ryou brushed out his hair, he thought it was odd that Kaiba would even wear this kind of clothing. The Kaiba Corp. thing wasn't a big surprise, but black cargo pants? _**Sounds more like something Malik would buy.** _

A couple minutes later, Ryou slowly crept downstairs, bare feet silent as he went across the deep blue carpet to the living room. All he could see was the back of Kaiba's head at first, looking down at something in his hands. Curious as ever, Ryou silently walked over to him, leaning on the back of the couch to see Kaiba playing a Gameboy SP, frantically pressing and buttons on both sides. Ryou had to choke back a laugh.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked, but Kaiba didn't look up or even falter.

"What's it look like?"

"Don't you have some other (more advanced) video games that are hooked up to a big screen TV or something?" he asked, smiling in a smart-alike way.

"Yes, down the hall." Once again, Kaiba didn't look up form the small hand-held game.

"Then why aren't you playing that?" Ryou asked; now on his knees, his arms crossed over the back of the couch, resting his cheek against his arm. _**Why are you playing at all, you always seem so busy with your company or something . . . **_

"Because I'm playing this." Ryou couldn't hold back his laughter any longer, though he tried, it just came out as giggling.

"I believe the last time I heard that was from a first year middle-schooler." He said with a smile. Kaiba was being very quiet, and kept trying to play the game, a very challenging one it seemed. Ryou waited for about 5 minutes, and still Kaiba hadn't said anything. "What, no backlash?"

"I think of a come-back once I beat this level," he said quickly, and Ryou didn't think he could hold it in any longer. He buried his face in his arms, trying to muffle his laughter that was threatening to explode. Kaiba was acting like such a . . . _child! _Like his little brother even, and for some strange reason Ryou found it extremely funny.

Some odd robotic beeping sounds came from the hand-held game and Ryou heard Kaiba growl, "Crap, I died." He flicked off the game and threw it onto the coffee table in front of him. "And I almost won too." The way he said, made Ryou (who still had his face buried in his arms) picture Kaiba almost _pouting_. And he couldn't hold it in any longer.

Kaiba looked back at Ryou who had started to shake, his face still buried in his arms.

_/yeah yeah _

_yeahy-yeah yeah_

_yeahy-yeah yeah/_

"Uh, are you okay?" Kaiba asked, cocking an eyebrow at the teen. For a moment he thought he was crying again, but now he wasn't so sure. And as if on cue Ryou burst out laughing and fell to the floor in complete hysterics.

"You . . . are . . .such . . a . . ." he couldn't even finish he sentence he was laughing so hard, and Kaiba didn't even know what was so funny. And the sad thing was the Ryou didn't either, the way Kaiba had been acting just set him off for some reason. And this was kind-of odd, Ryou was always the quiet invisible one in school; which is probably why Kaiba was looking at him like he was crazy.

Then, the most unexpected thing happened.

Kaiba smiled, and it seemed to Ryou like it was something that just… seemed to fit. Like he always smiled, but Ryou had never seen Kaiba like this before. And yet…. he couldn't even describe it; just like in the kitchen this morning, everything seemed so natural. The way Kaiba was acting, his smile, even right now with him on the floor and Kaiba looking at him over the back of the couch.

"I'm such a what?" he asked, still smiling, flashing off perfect white teeth. It was a true smile, not one of mockery; he seemed more of a normal, more calm, Joey than anything. And he smiled with sure confidence, like he wasn't afraid to hide himself from Ryou, like he did with everyone else. His usually icy blue eyes seemed to have melted, and he dropped his mask that made him seem more like a machine than a human being. Ryou smiled back, he wanted to see more of this side of Kaiba; he liked it a lot.

_/ Why do you look so familiar?_

_I could swear that I have seen your face before_

_I think I like that you seem sincere_

_I think I'd like to get to know you a little bit more/_

"Well?" Kaiba was waiting for an answer, while Ryou just kept staring at him, no longer laughing.

".. such.. a….. You are… so …. immature!" Ryou said before his words were once again drowned out by his laughter. Kaiba had this weird look on his face, a cross between amusement and surprise.

"E-Excuse me," he said, his voice breaking up while he was trying to hold back his own laughter. "Who's the one rolling on the floor laughing in complete hysterics Mr. Bakura?" Okay, this time he used mockery, but it was out of fun. "At least I don't have my own fan club."

"Oh, I beg to differ," Ryou cut him off. "I believe I saw a group of girls following you in the library a couple of days ago. Whispering to each other something along the lines of 'do you have a pen?' and 'I wonder if he'll sign in lipstick?'" he said, making his voice high-pitched to imitate a girl's voice.

"Really?" Kaiba asked; Ryou nodded, feeling more laughter crawling up his throat. But he wasn't the only one, something else unexpected happened. The smile was overwhelming enough, but Kaiba then started to laugh.

It started out as just snickering, but soon turned into rich deep-toned laughter. Something Ryou had never heard before, and nothing he could have ever imagined, I mean… it was Kaiba! His laughter died a little as he shook his head, "Actually that's nothing compared to what happened last week."

Ryou smiled and got up off the floor, jumping over the couch and sitting next to Kaiba. The two spent the whole morning laughing and talking; about school at first, like the weird things girls had done around them. But as the minutes passed quickly, they soon went to their families and home life. Kaiba had gone on and on about some of the stupid or funny things Mokuba had done. And Ryou would talk about some of the things he remembered about his little sister, and the other times would be about when Malik had visited him about 9 months before.

He remembered it very clearly; mostly because when Malik was around Bakura hadn't beaten him. He had even started to act nice around him, and Malik had stayed for 4 months! Life with both Malik and Marik and Bakura in the same house had been the best, especially since Bakura had apologized for beating him about one month after Malik arrived, Marik had decided to come out about five weeks after that.

But then everything went down hill 5 months ago. Odion got in a terrible accident, so Malik and Marik left for Egypt straight away, without telling Bakura.Ryou was there when they left, sohe knew. Bakura had gone out that night, he seemed really depressed that Malik had left. Unfortunately, he went drinking, and came home drunker than he ever had before. That was when the beatings had started again; the first month it was only when he got drunk, but after that it became routine. They hadn't heard of Malik, Marik, or Odion since then.

Ryou had thought about telling Kaiba this, but he didn't; he kept talking and laughing about how it was when they were here, and when Bakura cared about him.

"I will never ever give them achohol again," Ryou said as he shook his head. "Destruction, chaos, loss of money and sleep is the only thing that will come out of it."

Kaiba blinked. "Sounds like my office when Mokuba's on sugar high." Ryou laughed again.

"So you're saying you sleep in your office?"

"Only on Saturday," Kaiba sighed. "Mokuba's up at the crack of dawn making as much noise as possible. If only he would wake up that early on school days."

_/I think there's something more_

_Life's worth living for/_

The two were quiet a moment, till Ryou popped the question that would bring Kaiba into a hyper-active-kid mode. "What kind of video games do you have?" A crazy Joey-like grin suddenly crossed Kaiba's features, one that seemed out of place on his face. Ryou didn't even have time to blink before Kaiba grabbed his wrist and dragged him down the hall into a room with a big screen TV and hundreds of games and gaming systems.

_/Who knows what could happen_

_Do what you do just keep on laughing_

_One thing's true_

_There's always a brand new day…_

_I'm gonna live today like it's my last day/_

**12:38 p.m.**

"You cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Ryou nudged Kaiba hard, making him miss a turn on the racing game and giving Ryou time to speed up, pressing buttons frantically. Kaiba growled and pushed Ryou over, letting him have the lead.

"Hey!" Ryou then pushed Kaiba over as best he could, grabbing his own control and trying to stop himself from crashing. There was a screeching sound and explosion on the screen as Kaiba's car crashed into a wall bordering the track.

"See, you do cheat!" Kaiba exclaimed. "You made me die."

"You pushed me first," Ryou complained childishly. Frowning, Kaiba pondered over if he should do what he did whenever Mokuba acted like that. _Screw it_, he then did something that sent Ryou into shock. Growling, Kaiba tackled him to the ground; causing Ryou to lose his control and make his car crash.

_/yeah Yeah yeahy-yeah yeah_

_yeahy-yeah yeah/_

**1:26 p.m.**

"I won!" Ryou exclaimed.

"Again?" Kaiba sighed, he wasn't use to losing at video games. He thew his controller to the ground before falling backwards on the ground.

"Yeah, I'm tired of video games too," Ryou said, seeming to read Kaiba's actions. Kaiba growled slightly.

"I really hate that." Ryou smiled innocently.

"Hate what? When I can tell what your thinking?" Ryou said this with play-mockery. It wasn't that far into the afternoon and the two felt like they had always been friends. So many odd things had happened, and things seemed to move so fast when they had done really nothing at all.

Kaiba growled again, and grabbed Ryou around the waist; hoping to pin him down to the floor, he really hated that last time he tackled him. But Ryou suddenly shrieked when Kaiba grabbed him around the waist, but it was a shriek of laughter. Kaiba smirked. "Hmm, is someone ticklish?"

Ryou tried to get up, hoping to make a break for the door. But Kaiba pulled him down, succeeding in pinning him. "Don't you dare," he said, so quiet he was almost whispering. Kaiba smirked again, and proceeded to torture Ryou, running his fingers on either side of Ryou's waist. Ryou frantically tried to push Kaiba off of him, but was failing due to his laughter. "K-Kaiba! Please s-stop!" And yet Kaiba didn't stop, but continued until Ryou was laughing so hard he could barley breathe. Kaiba then rolled over; leaving the two laughing and gasping for breath on the floor of the Kaibas' game room.

_/How do you always have an opinion_

_and how do you always find the best way to compromise_

_We don't need to have a reason_

_We don't need anything we're just wasting time/_

The two finally calmed down, lying silently on the ground watching the ceiling reflect colors off the TV screen. Ryou watched the flashing colors of light, thinking back to his question he had this morning. He finally had an solution. This was probably the most fun he had had done in a long time, and the day wasn't even over yet.

Ryou turned his head over to look at Kaiba to see him lying with his arms behind his head, eyes closed. Ryou smiled sheepishly, he had learned so much about him, and yet he still seemed like such a mystery.

"You know what?"

Ryou blinked, the question had startled him. Kaiba still had his eyes closed, but the smile was back. Ryou still couldn't believe that Kaiba was smiling, and that he was away from his yami, and he felt like he finally had a friend. Maybe even more. He was just so scared he would close his eyes and only open them to find himself back in his room and none of this had ever happened. It was almost too good to be true, and yet it seemed so normal. He sighed, smiling again, resting his head on one arm; still facing Kaiba. "What?"

"We'd be doing math if we were in school right now." Ryou smiled at that, they had had all sorts of conversations that started out this way.

"I bet Tormishii-sensi had a pop quiz today too," Ryou added. "She had been talking about it yesterday." Suddenly an idea popped into his head, what were they doing still at Kaiba's house? He sat up so fast that Kaiba opened his eyes to see what he was up to. "Let's go somewhere."

"What?" Kaiba asked, sitting up as well. "Where?"

"I don't know. The park, the arcade," Ryou told him. "Everyone's at school so it won't be so crowded anywhere."

Kaiba gave him a weird look. "I thought you were staying home _sick_ form, school today."

"May I remind you that this was your idea. Besides, I want to go outside really bad." Kaiba just looked away. "We could go to the park, it's supposed to be really nice out." Kaiba turned back to Ryou giving him a 'do I have to?' look. But Ryou had one of his own…

… puppy dog eyes.

_/I think there's something more_

_Life 's worth living for_

_Who knows what could happen_

_Do what you do just keep on laughing_

_One thing's true_

_There's always a brand new day/_

Indeed it was a beautiful day outside; warm with a slight breeze. Kaiba's glare lightened as he looked around the park as he stepped out of the limo. It was really green; a sidewalk started around it, between really tall trees, and he could barley make out a what must be very large fountain across the park.

Ryou stepped up next to him, brown eyes full of excitement and wonder, Kaiba didn't nesscerialy blame him for making him come. It was really nice. The two walked around the park a couple of times, continuing to talk. The trees gave them shade, and streams of sunlight poured in streaks through the leaves, lighting up designs on the sidewalk. On their last time, the two stopped by the fountain Kaiba had seen.

It really was large, water that shot into the air misted the cobblestone pool below it. Ryou sat on the short wall, running his fingers through the water. "This is one of my favorite places to go, especially at night." He said, his voice was quiet.

"One of?" Kaiba asked, sitting down next to Ryou. "Where else do you like to go."

"I'd show you, but there are probably a lot of kids there right now, I always go at night," Ryou said, his voice was till really quiet, like he was scared someone nearby might hear him. "I only have two favorites, here and the playground of the Elementary school near my complex. The one on 123rd and Piers Street." Kaiba nodded, that was the school Mokuba had gone to.

"Why at night?"

"It's quiet, no one's there," he shrugged, still running his fingers through the water, not taking his eyes of the surface. "I always liked to go walking at night." Kaiba couldn't take his eyes off of the white-haired teen, he seemed so sad. Kaiba sighed, wishing that he knew what was wrong, what was making him so depressed and who was beating him up so badly. He had learned so much about him, but Ryou still seemed like a mystery. Kaiba was about to say something when he was interrupted by a protest from Ryou's stomach. Kaiba smiled as the white-haired teen's face turned slightly pink.

"How about something to eat?" Ryou laughed nervously, nodding. Shaking his head, Kaiba stood up and the two walked out of the park and into town.

_/Who knows what could happen_

_Do what you do just keep on laughing_

_One thing's true_

_There's always a brand new day…_

_I'm gonna live today like it's my last day/_

**3:03 p.m.**

Walking out of burger world, Ryou silently sipped his milkshake; a tinge of red still on his cheeks. Kaiba couldn't stop snickering.

"Come on, you have to admit, it was really funny." Ryou's face turned even more red as Kaiba tried to keep himself under control.

"Y-You know, I've never done anything like that, even with Yugi-tachi," Ryou said quietly as the two leaned against the side of the building, waiting for Kaiba's limo.

"That's a good thing," Kaiba pointed out, still smiling and snickering. "You play really mean during a french-fry war."

"You started it!" Ryou suddenly said, the same way he had done earlier that day in the game room. Though a smile tugged at his own lips, it had been really fun. They would have gotten kicked out, if it hadn't been for a bunch of middle-schoolers that decided to do the same thing.

The two were once again silent, wondering what to do next. "Domino High will be getting out soon so…" Kaiba trailed off. The two stood there, leaning against the wall, watching the cars go by and Ryou sipping the rest of his milkshake.

"I want to see a movie," Ryou said.

"I told you to stop doing that," Kaiba sighed. "It's really annoying."

Ryou looked confused. "What'd I do?"

"Read my mind," Kaiba said with a smile. It was like he had gotten so use to it that he couldn't stop, even in public. "But there's really nothing in theaters right now…"

"Let's go back to your house, you probably have a lot of movies," Ryou suggested.

"Sure, if only the limo would get here we could-" Kaiba shut up as he heard all too familiar voices coming their way. Ryou and Kaiba looked around the corner to see Yugi-tachi walking their way. "Shit," Kaiba hissed.

"We've got to hide," Ryou said, looking around. There was a small nook on the wall behind the door; if the gang was going into Burger World, he and Kaiba could hide there. But if they were walking past, then they would have to hold still and pray to whatever god was listening that no one would look back. Only problem was it was a very small space.

The voices were getting louder. **_No time to think about that_,** Ryou grabbed Kaiba by the wrist and pulled him towards the other side of the door. Kaiba seemed to catch the drift, "There's not enough room, you go and I'll just-"

"It's just going to be tight. Now come one, they're coming." Ryou pulled him into the nook behind the door, and it was really tight.

"This is ridiculous-" Kaiba was cut off as Ryou's hand went over his mouth. Yugi-tachi was so close that the two could make out what they were saying.

"Com'n Yuge, I'm starved!" A New York accent exclaimed.

"But Joey," A voice that could be none other that Yugi complained, "Grandpa wants me at the store as soon as possible."

The two held their breath, hoping to god the gang would go inside for just a brief moment. Or at least one of them was praying, Kaiba had other things to think about. The space was so tight, Ryou had his head turned so he could see out and make out the back of Joey's head, but only because he had his head rested on Kaiba's chest. Yeah, that small. It was miracle they bother even fit in there, the god's must have favored them today. At least, Ryou hoped.

Kaiba was hoping too, he had this weird feeling in coming up in his throat and his stomach. He didn't know what it was, and he knew he should be worrying about Yugi and the mutt finding them. But all he could think about was how close he and Ryou were. And the feeling in his stomach had risen to his chest and was starting to spread. He could hear his heart-beat in his ears and his breathing seemed really loud. He tried to focus on what the Yugi was saying.

"Joey, we can eat at my house," Yugi said, and Joey sighed in defeat.

"You owe me Yugi."

Ryou gulped, and looked as if the world was coming to an end. He buried his face in Kaiba's chest, hiding his face; Kaiba turned slightly, hiding Ryou in his trench coat, his white hair would defiantly attract their attention. The two held their breath as quick footsteps raced past them. Ryou had his eyes closed tight, hiding himself in Kaiba's chest. And Kaiba got that weird feeling again, but shook it off and tried to focus on the feet that should be running past them.

But the street was so busy, there were another group of middle-schoolers coming up around the corner and the street was really loud with all the cars going past. Kaiba couldn't make out if the four had gone or if they were standing there staring at them. "Are they gone?" Ryou whispered.

Taking a deep breath, Kaiba looked over his shoulder, no one was there. "Yes." He felt Ryou sigh in relief and relax against him. The feeling was climbing up again, this time starting in his chest. He tensed up and couldn't take his eyes off of Ryou, who had his own eyes closed, his breathing back to normal.

"Kaiba?" He felt his breath catch up in his throat again.

"Y-Yeah." Great, now he was stuttering. Ryou looked up at him, chocolate-brown eyes no longer hidden under white bangs, _his eyes are really pretty._ Kaiba blinked. _W-Wait, I did not just think that, I'm not gay… I'm not._

"Could you… uh…. move?" Ryou asked, Kaiba wouldn't stop looking at him. **_What's wrong with him? _**And yet, Ryou couldn't stop looking at Kaiba either. But he was almost positive Kaiba nearly blushed before he stepped out of the nook behind the door.

/_So you go and make it happen_

_Do your best just keep on laughing_

_I'm telling you_

_There's always a brand new day/_

The ride home was quiet, but as soon as the two entered the living room where yet another big screen TV was the two started to act like nothing had happened. Nothing _had _happened, right?

"So what do you want to watch?" Kaiba asked as Ryou sat down on the big red couch.

"Oh, uh…. what do you have?"

"Everything," Kaiba laughed. **_Good,_** Ryou thought to himself, **_he's laughing again. And smiling…. _**

"Uh.. I don't really care actually." Kaiba rummaged through a closet that Ryou didn't even want to look into, afraid he could go nuts at what he saw. Probably hundreds of movies.

"How about 'The Ring?'" he asked. Ryou's face paled.

"You mean 'Ringu?'"

"No, 'The Ring' is the American version," Kaiba said, holding the DVD in his hands; and seeing the look on Ryou's face he added, "it's not as scary as 'Ringu.'"

"O-Okay."

_/Who knows what could happen_

_Do what you do just keep on laughing_

_One thing's true_

_There's always a brand new day…_

_I'm gonna live today like it's my last day/_

"I hate you Kaiba," Ryou whined. It wasn't as scary as 'Ringu', but it was still a horror movie, and would still scare the living daylights out of him. Ryou had a very firm grip on Kaiba's arm, holding as a child would hold a teddy bear, while watching the TV screen with wide eyes.

"Nothing new," Kaiba said, but his words held no emotion, making Ryou regret what he had said. He leaned against Kaiba's shoulder, wondering how he did it. How could he stand having so many people hate him. And yet he seemed so happy. It was really sad in Ryou's eyes.

"Don't look." Ryou hid his face in Kaiba's arm, silently thanking Kaiba for telling him when not to watch. The audio of the movie wasn't very comforting either, leaving Ryou's imagination to run wild. "Okay you can look now." It was the end of the movie, thankfully. Ryou turned towards the screen just as the scene flashes to whats-his-name with his face all-

"AHHHH!" Ryou screamed and hid his face again, only right into Kaiba's chest instead of his arm. "That was not funny Kaiba," he snapped.

The movie soon ended, but Ryou hadn't trusted himself to look up. The image of that guys face wouldn't go away. And it wasn't until Kaiba spoke that he realized what he had been doing.

"You know, I wouldn't turn the movie off if I could get up." Ryou suddenly realized he had his face buried in Kaiba's chest, and he was half in his lap. Ryou scrambled up and off of him, red tinting his cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I-I didn't know I w-was…"

"It's okay," Kaiba said as he got up to take the DVD out of the player. He looked over his shoulder to see Ryou still staring at him, the white-haired teen's face became a darker shade of red as he looked down, hugging his knees to his chest and burring his face in them. "And you don't have to try so hard, I can see you're blushing, don't try to hide it," he said smiling. He put the movie away. "You look cute like that."

Ryou felt his breath catch, **_d-did I just hear him say…._**

And Kaiba had frozen, not looking away from the closet where he just put the movie back, in his own state of shock. "Did I say that out loud?" Ryou couldn't do anything, or say anything. But nodded slightly, forgetting Kaiba couldn't see him. But the brunette knew.

And this time it was Kaiba's turn to have a red tint cross his own features.

**_TBC….

* * *

_**

Evil cliffy! XD Okay, nice and short 'cause I gotta go. Off to Colorado! Please review and thankx to all of my reviewers that I don't have time to respond to!

Later!

_-DA_

**p.s.** Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) and Happy New Year!

**p.s.s.** Review please, I know the chapter sucked but please still review!


	5. Cell Phone

Damnit you guys, I'm sorry for taking so long. I've had a lot of family problems in the last year. But I'm hoping to get to update more.

Anyway, crappy pointless chapter. I really am rusty so hopefully my next update will be better…

* * *

-- perspective change

--- scene change

_**blah**_ - Ryou's thoughts

_blah _- Kaiba's thoughts

* * *

**_Disclaimers:_** Dark-angel302 doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of it's characters! If I did, everyone would be gay! XD And Kura would dress sexier…

* * *

**_I'm Just a Kid_**

_Chapter 5_

Have you ever thought your heart just stopped beating? You don't think you can breathe yet you still are? Your mind went numb but was still racing. You can't hear but the sound of your heart is pounding in your ears? Time seems to drag endlessly, and you can feel someone staring at the back of your head. What is that emotion; fear? Embarrassment? Both? Heat spreads over your face so you know your blushing, and all you can do is stare at your feet. Quite a pathetic feeling, eh? Imagine how Kaiba feels.

His hand hadn't left the shelf. His face felt extremely heated and he couldn't find his voice. His embarrassment went farther than what he said, but also that he couldn't find a way to cover it up. The last thing he said kind of ruined all opportunities he might have gotten.

Ryou hadn't moved either, still trying to figure out what just happened. But he soon began to realize the number of minutes that had passed and Kaiba hadn't so much as twitched. He suddenly realized he had been holding his breath; letting it out he shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Was Kaiba okay? And what did he mean by…

More minutes ticked by. This was getting ridiculous; someone had to say something, but neither of them could find what to say.

"Kaiba?" Why did that take so much effort? His voice had come out in almost a whisper, and it seemed to have no effect on the brunette across the room. Ryou wanted to try again, but he was finding talking _extremely_ difficult. "K-Kaiba?"

Still no reaction.

Trying to subside his nervousness, Ryou shifted a little so he was on his knees, his hands resting on the back of the couch. Kaiba's current lack of movement was starting to scare him. Without even thinking he asked, "Are you okay?" Ryou could have sworn Kaiba tensed when he said that. Ryou's hands were shaking, why wasn't he moving! Licking his suddenly dry lips he tried the only thing he could think of that would get some sort of reaction out of him, "Seto?"

--

Kaiba blinked, what did he just call him? He had been silent, still trying to calculate a way to get out of his current situation. But absolutely nothing came to mind. The only one that might work would be pretend that nothing happened, maybe Ryou would play along. Everything else seemed totally stupid or unrealistic. This actually had a slight percentage of succeeding. Kaiba was about to open his mouth, tell Ryou he was fine, and hope things went well from there; when he heard a very familiar beeping tone.

_Thank God! I left my cell phone on! _His escape had made itself known.

--

He quickly answered his cell phone. "Kaiba." Ryou watched with curious eyes as an inaudible person spoke to the CEO. "Again! That's the third time this month!" he yelled into the phone. At least he was moving again. Kaiba turned around to see Ryou looking at him, leaning on the back of the couch. He held up a hand indicating Ryou was supposed to stay there and he stalked out of the room, cell phone still attached to his ear.

But Ryou got up anyway, and looked out of the doorway to see Kaiba taking the stairs two at a time while yelling at whoever had called him. Ryou suddenly felt very sorry for the person on the other line. He stayed there until he could barley hear Kaiba, and then the slam of a door was heard and the mansion was silent.

---

He had been flipping through the channels for the past 20 minutes and still hadn't found anything to watch. At least, nothing he could watch that would keep his mind off of the CEO upstairs. Ryou randomly stopped on a talk show that had a familiar person on it, but he didn't know their name. It hadn't been a minute or so later before his thoughts drifted else where.

**_Kaiba had called me' cute'_**, he thought to himself, a faint blush once again creeping cross his face.**_ The only people who call me cute are currently members of my obsessive/stalker fan club at school. Of course, there are other ways to take that statement. If you say something is cute, it could just mean you think it's …. cute… like you would call a kitten cute. What's another word for cute? Adorable? No, that means you actually… never mind. Kaiba would never think that about me; and either way I am certainly not cute._** (A/N: Denial. You know you're cute Ry!)

Ryou shifted on the couch, his eyes never leaving the TV screen without actually taking in what was going on._** People call other people cute all the time, it could mean absolutely nothing. I'm probably just thinking about this way too much… but a lot has happened today. This morning in the kitchen,** _Ryou blushed more at the thought. **_He has been acting really different. When we played video games this morning…. I don't remember ever acting like I was. Maybe when I was ten or so, but… and it was so much fun! I could tell Kaiba was having fun too. I don't think I've ever seen him so… happy._** Ryou laid his head against a pillow, his eyes no longer focused on the TV. **_I got to see him smile… and laugh. I don't think anyone but his little brother has ever seen him laugh. It was kind of surprising, it seemed so foreign to me. But not to him, it's like he laughs all the time and it was just me who never noticed. _**

**_He always had this scowl on his face. At school, when he was working on his laptop, when he dueled, when he walked even; and just now when he was on his cell phone. He changed completely._** Ryou curled up, eyes cast down to the swirled velvet pattern of the couch. **_There is such a difference, its almost like he's hiding who he is… wait. What was it that Mokuba had said this morning? _**

**"He just trys to act tough, but he will change really fast sometimes…"**

**_Is that what Mokuba meant?_** Ryou blinked, laying down completely on the couch; still looking at nothing in particular. **_I'm sure I'd get killed if I said this out loud, but he was kind-of like Joey. Minus the eating everything in sight, Brooklyn accent, goofy features and comments. But he had that, almost, happiness to him, similar qualities anyway; something that seems so foreign for the great Seto Kaiba._** Ryou shifted again, finding the couch extremely comfortable but not wanting to fall asleep.

**_Maybe that is why Kaiba doesn't like Joey, _**Ryou thought randomly. **_Because they're too much alike in some ways, but Joey gets to be himself and Kaiba doesn't._** Ryou sat up and looked over the back of the couch and through he doorway towards the stairs. He knew he shouldn't be making assumptions, but he felt he understood Kaiba a little bit now. He was trying to maintain an image, and he couldn't be himself. He was always this cold emotionless business man who's only passions seemed to be his company, duel monsters, and the well-being of his little brother. That's what the world saw him as, and that's the way Kaiba seemed to like it.

**_But why? Why would he want to pretend to be something he's not?_** Ryou let his mental question hang, still watching the stairs like the blue-eyed brunette would walk down them any second now. He would smile at him, ask if he was hungry; or maybe he'd come down complaining about whoever was on the phone, and then Ryou would ask what was wrong. Then Kaiba would vent to him about whatever was wrong at work; things would be… normal I guess you could say.

A door slammed down the hall. "ONISAN! I'M HOME!" The sound of Mokuba running closer to the room echoed, till he skidded to a halt in front of the stairs and saw Ryou. "Hi Ryou!" He ran into the room and jumped onto the couch. "Have you seen my brother?"

"Ano… I think he's still upstairs," Ryou answered, moving once again so the younger Kaiba could sit next to him. "He got a call on his cell phone; something about work I think. He wasn't very happy about it though."

"I'll bet," Mokuba said, breathing heavy from his sprint through the first floor. "He absolutely _hates _it when he gets calls on his days off." He continued as he took of his shoes, talking very fast. "He doesn't get very many you know. Ha, I'll bet whoever called him is deaf in one ear by now. Seto can yell really loud."

"Yeah, I could tell," Ryou looked back at the stairs. Trying to keep up with Mokuba's hyper-active conversation boosted his energy level a little, and his confidence a lot. "You know what, I'm going to go check on him," he found himself saying. "And you can just-"

"-stay here and watch TV," Mokuba finished for him, grabbing the remote before looking back at Ryou. "You and Seto talk alike." Ryou blinked. "You know, you say things the same. I know because I can always tell what Seto's about to say unless he starts talking like he's a walking dictionary." Mokuba slumped into the couch, flipping through the TV channels. "He does that just to annoy me sometimes," he pouted.

Ryou laughed to himself. If he had a vocabulary as complex as Kaiba's he'd probably do the same thing. Ryou headed out of the room, and towards the stairs had had been currently staring at only moments ago. A thought struck him suddenly and he turned around. "Mokuba? Where is your brother's office?"

Mokuba popped up from the other side of the couch. "Oh, go two floors up, and it will be five doors down on your right. It should be two big double doors with these really old fancy silver handles." He said this in what had to be about five seconds before turning around and disappearing behind the couch again.

---

Ryou hadn't noticed how large and grand the mansion was until he started up the stairs. Unlike the rooms he had been in, the entry way and staircase had a bright red carpet. The entryway itself was vast in size; the walls made of a polished wood Ryou couldn't place, and a crystal chandelier glistening from the ceiling. As he climbed the stairs, he let his hand graze the wooden banister, finding it flawlessly smooth. Everything gleamed or shined in the evening sun that filtered through the crystal clear windows.

When he reached the second floor, he glanced at it for a few moments. The carpet was still red, and the stairway opened into a large room. An unlit stone fireplace was laid into the wall, surrounded by what had to be extremely expensive leather chairs and couch. The walls were a red-wine color, and had golden framed paintings along the walls between a number of bookshelves. As Ryou walked towards the next set of stairs he found that further from the fireplace there were actually _rows_ of bookshelves. Kaiba had his own library!

Ryou saw another entry way next to the stairs, where there was yet another hall that held many doors. He looked back at the other room, desperately wanting to stay and explore the private library. But he eventually turned and started up the next flight of stairs.

These stairs opened not into a room, but a hallway of it's own. The carpet had changed to the blue color it was in the rooms on the first floor, and the walls now a bluish-gray. Ryou counted the doors as he walked down the hallway, while also awing at the door designs. Who would put so much detail into a door? He finally reached the pair of large double oak doors in the very middle of the hallway, with antique looking silver handles. Ryou could faintly hear the sound of what had to be Kaiba talking to someone, and his rapid typing on a keyboard.

He stopped, outside the door, listening to the CEO's inaudible conversation. Ryou wondered whether he should knock or not, Kaiba seemed to be really busy…

Ryou sighed, why was everything suddenly so hard? **_I just need to get this over with, it's only Kaiba. I just ditched school with him, why can't I just knock on his door and go inside? _**Ryou argued with himself a little more for a few minutes, just staring at the polished wood designs on the door. **_Just do it! _**He snapped at himself. Taking an unneeded deep breath, he gently knocked on the door.

---

_I hate Johnson. I hate his lack of computer skills. I hate the fact that I hired him. I hate my secretary for calling me. I hate everyone that should have been watching him. I hate the stupid computer system. I hate the stupid project. I hate my stupid employees who came up with the stupid project. I. Hate. EVERYTHING!_ Yeah, Kaiba was pissed. One of his technicians was still babbling in his ear about how they were going to fix the computer system that one of his employees just crashed AGAIN!

"Look, just hook up the hardware to the back up system and reboot the program," he said in a very low, very menacing voice. Why do people always have to make things so complicated?

"B-But will the system be able to stabilize-"

"Yes, it will." Kaiba hissed, interrupting the other man's stuttering. "I _made _the system." Which was pretty much code for 'Are you questioning that _my _system won't be able to run _my_ programming?'. Any idiot would know the answer to that.

A knock at his door caused Kaiba to look up from his computer screen, which was currently scanning 'all' of Kaiba Corp.'s computer systems. _Mokuba must be home, _was his first thought. But since when did Mokuba knock before coming in his office? The door opened noiselessly (A/N: no squeaky door hinges, I envy rich people) and Ryou Bakura stepped inside. Kaiba blinked, what was he doing upstairs? Suddenly realizing that his technician had handed the phone to a different, more tolerable one; he turned his eyes back to his laptop screen and listened to the phone conversation he had purposely tuned out of.

"-so we need you to access the system for us," the technician finished. "Mr. Kaiba?"

"Yes, hold on a moment," he muttered, pulling up the system and typing in the password. He once again looked up to see the white-haired teen leaning against the now closed door, watching him with curious eyes. _How long did I leave him down there? _Kaiba looked at the computer again. _Crap, it's been over half and hour. _He motioned for Ryou to sit down somewhere, and started connecting the program software.

--

Ryou walked farther into the room, taking in every detail. The walls were off white; the carpet was a lighter blue, and seemed more thick and soft. The office had three large windows on the back wall that faced the back part of the mansion, over looking an extravagant garden. Along one wall was a bookshelf over flowing with what Ryou guessed were books on business and technology. Next to it was a short file cabinet with, to Ryou's surprise, a stereo on top. He looked at Kaiba questioningly only to find the CEO once again absorbed in whatever was on his laptop.

On the other wall was a TV and a leather couch in front of that; maple coffee table between them. The coffee table, floor, and walls had blue prints all over them; along with note book paper and printed out computer graphic models. The coffee table also had wires and bits of computer parts, along with a set of tools spread out over the polished surface. Kaiba's desk was in front of the windows, large and also made of wood. Not only did Kaiba have his laptop, but he also had a PC, which was currently playing a screensaver. Papers were stacked neatly on his desk, completely opposite of the rest of the room.

Kaiba was still talking on his cell phone; it was something about a program. Ryou couldn't really understand the conversation. Picking his way through the room, Ryou approached the stereo, to find a few CD's on top of the file cabinet. **_Does he really listen to music? _**Ryou thought to himself, though it was kind of a dumb question. Ryou looked over at the brunette, a thought dawning on him that should have been made obvious long ago. Even though Kaiba was smarter than just about everyone at school, and ran his own company, and was a complete jerk to just about everyone; he was still a teenager. Ryou guessed he was about 17, maybe 18 at the most. Their whole day together should have proven to him that Kaiba really was just like every other teenager in the world. He plays video games, watches horror movies, gets annoyed by his little brother, and listens to music; just like everyone else.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Ryou picked up a few CD's and skimmed over them. **_Psycho le Cemu, Green Day? _**Ryou blinked; the CEO had quite a world variety. He skimmed a few more before putting them back next to the stereo. Turning around he saw Kaiba was still typing away, cell phone attached to his ear. Ryou walked around Kaiba's desk to see what he was doing; the laptop was currently listing what looked like random numbers and letters at a very fast rate. All the while a computer blueprint was lighting up different parts of… what looked like a building.

"No, you'll have to reverse that." Kaiba said to the person on the other line, not seeming to notice Ryou was there. Not really wanting to just stand there; Ryou dropped to his knees and crossed his arms on the desk, so he was level with the computer screen. He watched it continue to list the numbers that must have some meaning to them, but Ryou didn't know what. The shapes on the building continued to light up; until everything was lit, and then it changed to a different building-looking-thing and started all over again. Resting his cheek against his arm, Ryou looked up at Kaiba only to find the CEO looking right back; and to his relief, Kaiba smiled at him.

---

"Yes, fine. I'll check on it tomorrow," and finally, Kaiba shut his cell phone. Ryou looked up at him again from the desk. The CEO was still watching the screen until the program closed; then he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. "I hate stupid people." Ryou smiled, laughing a little. He shifted his gaze from Kaiba to the window behind him, seeing the very faint orange glow in the distance. Sighing he slid on to the floor, bringing his knees to his chest.

"I really should be going home soon." It had been almost a whole day since he had been home. Ryou shuddered, Bakura was going to be so mad at him. He really didn't want to leave the Kaiba mansion, but he knew that he couldn't stay here forever.

Kaiba noticed the shudder, and wished he knew what had happened to Ryou. The white-haired teen had never told him; and it was now quite obvious whoever hurt him so much was either at home or somewhere near. He wanted to tell him that he could stay if he wanted, that he didn't have to go home. But he had only really known Ryou for a day. Was that all it's been? So much seemed to have happened; 24 hours seemed far too short. Looking at Ryou, he felt… worried. The only person he had ever worried over was Mokuba; but seeing Ryou sitting there, hugging his knees, eyes diverted to the ground. He could tell he was scared; and somehow he became scared too. Kaiba wanted to ask again, ask what had happened last night. But he said something completely different.

"I can take you home if you want," Kaiba said, he turned so he was looking out the window. The sun was almost fully diminished, now only an orange glow on the horizon. Ryou hadn't answered him, but he could feel the white-haired teen was watching him. He heard Ryou stand up, and then something unexpected happened. Ryou hugged him.

Leaning over the back of the chair, Ryou wrapped his arms around Kaiba's neck, embracing the brunette and burring his face in his shoulder. Stunned would have been an understatement on Kaiba's part. Locks of Ryou's white hair brushed against Kaiba's face as Ryou looked up, resting his chin on the other's shoulder. "Thank you," he murmured, hoping Kaiba knew how much his offer meant to him.

Kaiba gently grasped Ryou's arm; in his own odd way returning Ryou's embrace. "No problem," he muttered back. The two stayed there like that for a few minutes longer, watching the very last of the sun's rays fade to black.

---

"Mokuba, I'm taking Ryou home."

The raven-haired boy suddenly appeared in the room, though still trying to skid to a halt. "What?"

"I said I have to take Ryou home," Kaiba repeated, putting on a long black trench coat. "Do you have homework?"

The younger Kaiba shifted from foot to foot. "Just a little bit."

"How much is 'a little bit'."

"…three pages of math homework?"

Kaiba looked over at his brother. "Please tell me that you've got most of it done." Mokuba didn't answer. "Some of it done?" Nothing. "Even started…"

"Yes!" Mokuba said suddenly. Groaning, Kaiba dragged a hand down his face.

"Mokuba, it's almost eight. Go finish your homework; I'll be back in a little while," he ruffled his little brother's hair, only to have his hand smacked away. Kaiba put on a fake astonished look. "Did you just hit me?" Mokuba 'eep'ed, and was soon running in the opposite direction.

---

Ryou sat at the base of the stairs tying his shoes when a loud shriek was head from above him. Looking up, he heard even more noise as a thundering sound made it's way across the ceiling, and became louder as it made it's way down the stairs. Ryou started running up the stairs only to stop on the next floor.

Mokuba went streaking through the library, Kaiba close on his heels. Till Mokuba turned a sharp corner and was caught but his older brother. "LETMEGOLETMEGOLETMEGO!" Kaiba laughed as he picked his brother up, keeping him under one arm, and started back up the stairs.

"I'll be down in a second," he told Ryou, though a large smile was on his face.

"O-Okay." Ryou watched as Kaiba took Mokuba upstairs; the younger Kaiba still yelling at his brother, and Kaiba still laughing. Ryou couldn't help but smile, **_he really is different than what everyone sees him as. _**

Ryou waited in the entry way for a few minutes, until he heard Kaiba coming down the stairs. He was twirling a key ring between his fingers. "Come on, we'll go out through the garage." But before he even reached the foot of the stairs there was a buzz from the front gate. Quirking an eyebrow, Kaiba went over to the voice box. "Who is it?"

"Mr. Kaiba? Someone is here, I just let them in," said one of the security guards.

"Who is it?" Kaiba repeated.

The guard yawned. "I didn't catch his name." Someone knocked at the door.

Ryou was backing up slowly; eyes wide. _It's not Bakura, it's not. He would never think I'm here._ Kaiba didn't notice the white-haired teen's uneasiness and went to get the door; it being past eight and his servants were all off duty. But the thought that it was whoever had hurt Ryou was the first thing that came to mind.

Opening the door slightly, he was met with a familiar face. Lavender eyes looked up at him through messy blonde bangs, which the visitor was trying desperately to get out of their face with only one hand; the other hand currently holding a motorcycle helmet.

"Hi Kaiba, I was wondering if Ryou was here?"

**_I know that voice! _**The white-haired teen appeared next to Kaiba, opening the door all the way. Ryou gasped in astonishment as he saw who was standing there.

"Malik!"

_TBC…_

* * *

I'm soooooo evil! (Sry for the crappy chapter, I really need to practice or something…)

I really can't wait till next my next chapter cause I will add some real fluff between Ryou and Kaiba, I promise. But I also get to introduce a side pairing! XD I'm excited.

K, thakies to my reviewers (OMG there's so many 0.0) And apparently FF is not letting us respond to reviewers in our fanfics anymore. o.O I've really been away too long. So thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. You know who you are! This chap was for all my devoted readers. (Wow, devoted readers, that sounds weird coming from me)

I'll try _really _hard to update soon. I also have to work on all my other fics, so I'll get to those first. (And next time I'll bring back my prisoners, MWHAHA! Oh Kaiba, where are you…)

* * *

_**- Darkangel302**_


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